Carthage
Carthage is a nation bloc in North Africa, founded in the late 21st century as a counterpoint to the WEU. History In the second half of the 21st century the countries of North Africa, unlike their counterparts in the Middle East, realised that the days of oils dominance were drawing to a close. Fusion power, then in its infancy, would soon replace oil and gas as the main source of energy in the industrialised world. At the same time China and Europe’s control of that technology would make them extremely wealth and influential. In 2068 several North African countries decided to form an economical, political, and military union to counter the growing power of the Western European Union. In a symbolic act the founder signatories of the North African Union agreed to sign the final version of the treaty in the ruins of ancient Carthage in Tunisia, a city which had once rivalled Rome as the dominant power in the Mediterranean region - the European Union, forerunner of the WEU had been created with the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The choice of location was deliberate, the newly created alliance was announcing to the world that Carthage would once again be a rival to Rome, even if only in the theatres of diplomacy and trade rather than imperialism and war. The initial members of the Union were Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia, they were joined in 2089 by Morocco. Egypt was also invited to join the Alliance on several occasions but declined, preferring to remain neutral rather than risk angering either Israel or the Pan-Arab League. In 2130 the NAU member states formally became a single nation with its capital at Tripoli in Libya. In keeping with the symbolism of the original signing ceremony the new country would be named the Carthaginian Alliance, usually shortened to simply Carthage. Government Carthage is a constitutional republic led by a President. The unicameral national parliament is known as the Peoples Congress and has 630 members drawn from over thirty political parties. Below the Congress there are eighteen Federal Regional Councils which are further divided into four hundred and twenty Departments. National elections are held every four years whilst the Regional and Departmental elections are every five years. The president is selected by direct vote whilst the twenty four strong cabinet are selected from Congress. Carthage technically has universal suffrage with all citizens over 21 been eligible to vote. In practice around 35% of the electorate has directly or indirectly disenfranchised after been found guilty of (often minor) crimes. Only around half of the women in Carthage have ever voted, their male relatives often forbidding them from taking part in politics. Demographics Carthage is predominantly a Arabic nation. Arabs and Arab-Berbers make up over 86% of the total population with the largest minorities coming from several Berber and Tuareg tribes. There remains a tiny (~5’000) strong population of European ancestry, descended from French and Italian colonial settlers of the 20th century. Around 78% of the population live in urban areas The Alliance is a Muslim country. Sunni Islam is the only recognised religion, all others, including most other branches of Islam, are prohibited by law. Atheism is also forbidden and punishable by death. None-Muslim visitors are restricted to a few enclaves in the larger cities with travel beyond these areas strictly controlled. Geography Carthage is roughly divided into three environments:- the fertile coastal strip - where most of the people live, the Atlas Mountains in the west, and the Interior - a vast, dry desert which remains virtually uninhabited. The coastal region generally has a warm, Mediterranean climate with sufficient rainfall to sustain agriculture although hot desert winds such as the sirocco and gibli can cause the ground to dry out at times. These winds also bring sandstorms which can cover huge areas for days at a time. The northern flanks of the Atlas Mountains have a slightly cooler and wetter climate than the coast and receive sufficient rainfall to allow for highly productive farming on the lower slopes. In recent years the Carthage government has begun constructing new towns in the mountains to ease overcrowding along the coastal strip. The interior is dominated by the Sahara desert, the largest sand desert in the world. Most of the desert receives less than 20mm of rain a year although some higher altitudes have sufficient humidity to allow moisture farming. This has allowed for the creation of several artificial oasis, increasing the amount of land available for agriculture (mostly grazing) by nearly 350km². Off-World Colonies Unlike either Saudi Arabia or the IRP, Carthage had for many years refused to accept the so-called New Wessex Compromise which allows Muslim away from Earth a means of praying on a daily basis, one of the central tenants of Islam. As a result Carthage had traditionally been unable to establish any colonies off-world. Since 2182 Carthage had operated a small mining and gas collecting facility on Nova Espero. The workers sent to this small outpost were only allowed off-world if they meet several strict prerequisites. They had to be male, over the age of 25, married with at least two sons, and they must have completed the Hajj at least once in their life since reaching adulthood. Colonists were only allowed to spend a maximum of eighteen months away from Earth and upon their return they were required to undergo a number of rituals intended to reconsecrate their souls to Islam. In 2380 however the government relented and began to evaluate several off world sites. This move coincided with the financial crash in Argentina and in a move intended to inject capital into the Argentine economy Buenos Aires sold Carthage the northern most third of their territories on Cincy along with a pair of transport ships. The project was delayed as a result of the conflict with the UOE but the first colonists eventually arrived in 2397 and today the colony has a population of 12'300. The outpost on Nova Espero was also upgraded to full colonial status and now has a permanent population of around 3'800 supplementing the rotating work crews. Economy Agriculture The coastal regions are highly suitable for agriculture, especially since the construction of several desalination plants in Libya which have allowed irrigation of large areas inland. The main food producing areas are in Algeria and Tunisia which between them produce around 70% of the nations food supply. Much of the remaining arable land is used to grow cash crops such as olives, figs, cotton, tobacco, and cork. Lake Saladin is an artificial lake covering over 2’500ha (25km²), located south east of the city of Medinine in Tunisia. Created in 2320 and supplied with water from a dedicated desalination plant on the coast, the lake is used to irrigate the surrounding countryside as well as been stocked with many species of freshwater fish, shellfish and even turtles. Mining and Manufacturing Carthage still has several large mineral deposits including several small oil and gas fields which remain undeveloped. The countries main mineral exports are phosphates and iron, smaller reserves of lead and copper are also mined, primarily in the Atlas Mountains. Energy Since 2280 the Carthage government has sought self sufficiency in its energy needs. To this end the country has built a number of fusion power plants, fuelled by several helium-3 mining facilities out at Nova Espero, as well as numerous alternative energy plants. The countries long coastline along the Mediterranean has allowed it to build thousands of wind turbines although the Atlantic Ocean experiences too many storms for wind turbines to be built in large numbers, whilst the vast, flat plains of the interior are ideal for solar power plants. International Relations Despite been a stable and fairly progressive country Carthage has the distinction of having perhaps the largest number of unfriendly relations with other countries on Earth. Its main rival is the UOE with whom it has clashed on a number of occasions, most recently over control of Novo Espero. Today neither country has direct diplomatic relations with the other and both have imposed trade sanctions against their rival. The conflict of Nova Espero also drew in the Holy Russian Empire when Imperial shipping routes were threatened by overly aggressive Carthaginian commanders who saw their mission as one of claiming the entire system. Imperial Russia threatened to join the UOE in direct action against Carthage and deployed several frigates and additional fighter squadrons to the system to protect not only its own shipping but those of several other neutral nations. Carthage’s ally during its conflict with the UOE was Byzantium in Asia Minor and the Balkans. Following the defeat of the alliance against vastly superior UOE forces both nations blamed their ally for failing to “pull their weight” in the fighting. As a result Carthage and Byzantium have severed their alliance and have engaged each other in a number of skirmishes in the Mediterranean Sea over the last decade. Carthage is also locked in an ideological conflict with both Saudi Arabia and the IRP. Carthage sees both of these Muslim countries as failing in their faith. Saudi Arabia is dominated by the ultra-conservative Wahabi sect whilst the IRP is slowly developing a form of Islam which blends both Sunni and Shi’a tenants. Carthage is strictly Sunni and its religious leaders regularly criticize the other two countries. The dogmatic differences have led to both diplomatic incidents and armed clashes. Between 2318 and 2324 Saudi Arabia banned Carthaginian citizens from undertaking the hajj, the traditional Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. It was only after intense diplomatic negotiations, chaired by the ACPL, and threats of intervention from the IRP (which was worried its own citizens might find themselves barred) that Riyadh relented and allowed Carthaginians to resume the pilgrimage. To its south Carthage has clashed with the United States of Central Africa over control of traditional tribal territories in the region. The long, porous border between the two countries mean that both sides have been able to infiltrate each other and carry out military raids. Military Aerospace Forces The Aerospace forces of Carthage are still recovering from the Nova Espero conflict. During that conflict Carthaginian pilots were outperformed on every occasion by their European counterparts. The kill ration was 1:3 in favour of the UOE, less than a quarter of Carthaginian pilots survived their first encounter with UOE fighters. The only unit the gain any real victories was Fighter Squadron 56 equipped with D0-902 Krabo interceptors, who managed to shoot down a total of fourteen UOE fighters. Even before the war the UOE had imposed an arms sanction against Carthage limiting the number of spare parts and munitions available to Carthage. This was a severe problem since the bulk of Carthage's fighters were on European origin. Today the Carthage Aerospace Force has just six squadrons worth of fighters available totalling less than seventy airframes. Half of these are reconditioned Krabo fighters whilst the rest are second hand FT-17D Shrikes bought second (actually third-) hand from the Free Cities of Mars. Space Navy The Carthaginian Space Fleet is centered on a trio of Yan-class Frigates Army Carthage has universal conscription with all males between 18 and 21, and females between 19 and 20 subject to selection for between one and three years compulsory national service with the duration dependent of the type of service. Around two thirds of conscripts are enrolled in the National Militia which is tasked with both border defence and internal security. The Militia is also used to supplement manpower on various national projects such as helping bring in the harvest and the construction of roads. Most of the remaining third of conscripts serve two years in the Army which is trained and equipped to be able to undertake offensive missions. A few (~7%) conscripts recieve specialist training such as radio operators, engineers, or field medics. These specialist serve for three years but recieve increased pay and privailges. Around twenty percent of conscripts choose to stay on after their national service (including more than half of the specialists) serving for between five and fifteen years before leaving) All conscripts are expected to serve as reservists for at least ten years after the end of their service unless forced out of service due to either medical issues or a dishonourable discharge. The Carthaginian Army has a manpower level of 376'000 with another 500'000 reservists. Category:Nations